Overpressured layer chromatographic determination of aflatoxin B1, B2, G1 and G2 in red paprika

Current Trends in Mycotoxin Detection with Various Types of Biosensors

One of the most important tasks in food safety is to properly manage the investigation of mycotoxin contamination in agricultural products and foods made from them, as well as to prevent its occurrence. Monitoring requires a wide range of analytical methods, from expensive analytical procedures with high-tech instrumentation to significantly cheaper biosensor developments or even single-use assays suitable for on-site monitoring. This review provides a summary of the development directions over approximately a decade and a half, grouped according to the biologically sensitive components used. We provide an overview of the use of antibodies, molecularly imprinted polymers, and aptamers, as well as the diversity of biosensors and their applications within the food industry. We also mention the possibility of determining multiple toxins side by side, which would significantly reduce the time required for the analyses.

Immunoassays for rapid mycotoxin detection: state of the art

The widespread presence of mycotoxins in nature not only poses a huge health risk to people in terms of food but also causes incalculable losses to the agricultural economy. As a rapidly developing technology in recent years, the mycotoxin immunoassay technology has approached or even surpassed the traditional chromatography technology in some aspects. Using this approach, the lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) has attracted the interest of researchers due to its user-friendly operation, short time consumption, little interference, low cost, and ability to process a large number of samples at the same time. This paper provides an overview of the immunogens commonly used for mycotoxins, the development of antibodies, and the use of gold nanoparticles, quantum dots, carbon nanoparticles, enzymes, and fluorescent microsphere labeling materials for the construction of LFIAs to improve detection sensitivity. The analytical performance, detection substrates, detection limits or detection ranges of LFIA for mycotoxins have been listed in recent years. Finally, we describe the future outlook for the field, predicting that portable mobile detection devices and simultaneous quantitative detection of multiple mycotoxins is one of the important directions for future development.

Fast screening of aflatoxins in dairy cattle feeds with CE-LIF method combined with preconcentration technique of vortex assisted low density solvent-microextraction

Aflatoxin contamination in agricultural products poses a great threat to humans and livestock. The aim of this study was to establish a simple, rapid, highly sensitive, and inexpensive method for the simultaneous detection of aflatoxin B₁ , B₂ , G₁ , and G₂ in agricultural products. We used a vortex assisted low density solvent-microextraction (VALDS-ME) technique for sample preconcentration and sample detection was achieved with a CE-LIF method. Aflatoxins were separated in an uncoated fused-silica capillary with the MEKC mode and were excited by a 355 nm UV laser to produce native fluorescence for detection. The obtained LOD and LOQ for the four aflatoxins were in the range of 0.002-0.075 and 0.007-0.300 μg/L, respectively, and the analysis time was within 6.5 min. Using the established method, aflatoxins were screened in naturally contaminated dairy cattle feed samples including alfalfa, bran, and corn kernel. The result shows that the alfalfa and bran samples were contaminated with aflatoxins to varying degrees. Compared with other analytical techniques for aflatoxin screening in agricultural products, this CE-LIF method combined with VALDS-ME preconcentration technique is simple, rapid, highly efficient, and inexpensive.

Development of Methods for Determination of Aflatoxins

Aflatoxins can cause damage to the health of humans and animals. Several institutions around the world have established regulations to limit the levels of aflatoxins in food, and numerous analytical methods have been extensively developed for aflatoxin determination. This review covers the currently used analytical methods for the determination of aflatoxins in different food matrices, which includes sampling and sample preparation, sample pretreatment methods including extraction methods and purification methods of aflatoxin extracts, separation and determination methods. Validation for analysis of aflatoxins and safety considerations and precautions when doing the experiments are also discussed.

Efficient Conjugation of Aflatoxin M1 With Bovine Serum Albumin through Aflatoxin M1-(O-carboxymethyl) Oxime and Production of Anti-aflatoxin M1 Antibodies

BACKGROUND

Aflatoxins are the most extensively studied group of mycotoxins produced by molds, especially the Aspergillus group, which are highly toxic to animals and humans.

OBJECTIVES

Since immunoassay is a simple and rapid method for the analysis of many toxic substances in comparison to the chromatographic methods, it is necessary to produce specific and sensitive antibodies for detection of Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1). The current study was conducted to produce bioconjugate of Aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) with Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) as well as to generate specific antibodies against AFM1 for immunoassay of the mycotoxin.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

First, AFM1 was converted to AFM1-(O-carboxymethyl) oxime derivative. Then, AFM1-oxime was coupled with BSA and the product was assessed by UV-VIS spectrophotometry. In order to generate polyclonal antibodies against AFM1, rabbits were immunized with BSA-AFM1 conjugate. Produced antibodies were purified using ion exchange chromatography and BSA-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography. The titers and specificity of the produced antibodies were determined by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

The results indicated that coupling of AFM1 with O-(Carboxymethyl) hydroxylamine hemihydrochloride was suitable and 12 moles of AFM1-oxime were successfully coupled to each mole of BSA. In addition, the titers and specificity of the prepared antibody were considerable compared to standard anti-AFM1 antibodies. The relative cross-reactivity of each toxin (relative to AFM1) with purified anti-AFM1 antibodies, as determined by the amount of aflatoxin necessary to cause 50% inhibition of enzyme activity, was 70, 105, 240, and 2500 ng/mL for AFB1, AFB2, AFG1, and AFG2, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The prepared antibody can be used for the development of an ELISA kit to assay AFM1 in milk and other biological fluids.

Overpressured Layer Chromatography (OPLC) – A Flexible Tool of Analysis and Isolation

This review briefly summarizes the overpressured layer chromatography (OPLC) technique and its progress from the beginning until today. Some theoretical aspects, important technical and methodological solutions, as well as analytical separations and isolations are demonstrated covering the last 30 years. The infusion and transfusion OPLC operations, as well as their combination, and their off-line and online processes, and off-line and online hyphenations for detection and structure elucidation are presented. The combination of OPLC separation with biological detection by direct bioautography and BioArena as an important solution touches the potential of analysis and isolation based on biological activity.

Capsicum and Mycotoxin Contamination: State of the Art in a Global Context

Owing to their usual conditions of production in countries with warm and humid climates and to poor storage conditions, products derived from Capsicum sp. are susceptible to fungal contamination and development, which can lead to the accumulation of mycotoxins in these foods. Thus, products as chilli or paprika can be contaminated with fungal toxins, such as aflatoxins, ochratoxins and other mycotoxins, which pose a serious risk to public health. This study reviews the main aspects regarding mycotoxin contamination of Capsicum, in the context of the importance of this product in a global market and approaches the effect of processing on final contamination of foods, as well as reviews the analytical methodology commonly employed in fungal and mycotoxin analysis in these types of products.